The Twists and Turns
by Fialvert
Summary: ...
1. Chapter 1

AN: This is a original fiction, and therefore, you are going to not know everyone I refer to

Note: These are the entries of Fialvert, a survivor of nuclear bombing, due to the fact he was stuck in crysis for year.

June 20th: The room was barren as I entered.

It smelled rather musty at first, and then I could smell the odors of the previous inhabitants. I creaked the door open, the doorknob falling to the ground with a boompf, sending up a cloud of dust.I approached the nearby CD player, noting there was a worn disc inside. I hit PLAY. The song, "Still Alive" began echoing throughout the room.A small smile came to my face, as it brought back memories of when video games, music, even films were produced. Now, it was just a wasteland.

Shuffling painfully toward the other unopened door, I swung open with a light nudge, and I saw a pair of skeletons lying in the corner.I ran to the skeletons, searching them for any sign of who they were. At first the search came up with no interesting results, but when I flipped one over, a moth eaten hat lay there.

I was no scientist, but it had to be either, Moira, Poetic, Alex, or Precarious.

Another body laid not so far away, a beaten laptop gripped in its bony hands.

The laptop refused to move from its position, but with a little force, the hands of my former friend snapped clean off.

After attaching it to a charger in my pack, I plugged it in the only socket there.

The laptop crackled with energy, and when I clicked the power button, the familar "INSPIRON" screen popped up, followed closely by Windows.

: A user select screen was up, and there were two listings: Admin and Tiv. Clicking on Tiv loaded his desktop, and a webpage loaded, with the heading: Fan Fiction Friday.

It seems Tiv had died in the attack, too disturbed by what he had read.

I never should have entered the chamber.

It locked me into stasis for far too long.

I noticed a faint outline on the wall opposite the door. I began dusting it off, and in doing so, my hand activated a switch, and the patch of wall swung open.

My flashlight came from the deep reaches of my long coat, and the dull light cut through the darkness.

The rotted floors rattled unsettlingly as I walked through the passage.

After a while, I arrived in a small room. It looked to be a panic room, and a bomb shelter, as I saw evidence of portisum, and radiation absorbent metal.

A final human was in the chair.

I couldn't think of who it was, as I had never seen his face before.

I switched the lamp next to the chair on, and it buzzed wearily, and then shone brightly throughout the room, and I could see it more clearly.

A bookcase, stocked with moth-eaten books, a smashed TV, along with a pantry full of food and water, were the main contents.

However, another room was an armory, and I couldn't think why this would be here, the room was hidden well.

A cracked mask was on the table, and it felt rough in my hands. As I studied it, I realized who the mystery man was.

Venom.

Only he wore this mask, and I guess I got my wish.

He was dead.

It was insane.

All the former inhabit-L.

Where was L?

I closed Venom's eyes, sliding the mask back on his face. "Rest."

The boards again swayed dangerously as I dashed back the main room, but again, no sign of L.

He had to be with Moira somewhere...

Or Precarious..

I had noticed many skeletons and bodies outside of here, but they were of no importance.

All of them would have came here..

I examined the pair again, and decided the hatted one was...Moira, and one next to it...L?

I slumped in the nearby chair, thinking of what to do.

I awoke from my slumber, as I thought I heard something from the adjoining kitchen. My pistol snaked its way out of the holster, and I creeped towards the door. I shouldered it open, and almost instantly I was hit by the smell of rancid food.

I stumbled back in a coughing fit. I also smelled asbestos, but it was faint.

From my pack came a WW2 era gas mask, and I checked the filter.

It seemed good, so I slipped it on.

I entered the kitchen again, surveying the area.

Pots and pans were strewn about, and I saw what had woken me. It was a giant rat. Almost half my size. It took a while for my brain to register this, and just in time, too.

The creature dove at me, and ripped my coat's sleeve open. The leather makeshift armor underneath prevented a nasty injury. I took a few potshots at it, but it seemed to do nothing much but enrage it even more. It attacked again, this time scoring a hit on my leg. It bled profusely.

My gun clattered to the floor, and I climbed onto the island. It shattered under my weight due to years of rot, and I fell backwards, granite flying through the room.

I managed to roll out of the way, the rodent's claws embedding itself into the floor.

The noise of metal against leather echoed through the room as I unsheathed my combat knife.

The blade plunged into the beast's skull, and as I tried to remove it for another blow, it broke, the metal sitting there.

It seems I had not connected with the brain, so I had no choice but to get my gun.

The thing's skull exploded, grey matter and bone shards covering the floor liberally. As for me, I was covered in blood, and I had lost my knife.

I finally could examine the room.

The first container I checked was the fridge, of course.

Mostly barren, but a crate of eggs, a jug of what I assume used to be millk, and alcohol, which seemed to be the most edible, but I was not a drinker.

A array of knives were in the knife rack, and I gathered two, for replacements.

A set of silverware was also useful, as I couldn't eat with my hands for long.

As I approached the main pantry, the rotten smell became worse, and at last I found the real source.

A corpse. It wasn't anyone I knew, but as I looted the body, I got a good look at his face.

He looked very much like Golden, but that was impossible. He and the others had to be dead. Unless he had children.

I returned to my setup, laying out a simple meal, mostly of peanuts, as for some reason, they were air sealed.

Before I slept, I checked all entrances, and locked the windows for good measure. You couldn't guess if bandits were still around.

My internal clock was still out of control, due to my stasis for all these year.

As such, I woke up again, and wearily decided not to try to sleep.

Instead, my goal would be to find out what year it was. I knew the date, the newspaper said it, but I hadn't seen any other papers.

My briefcase found its way upon the desk, the silver cutting through the dark and bland room.

A nice loud crisp snap traveled through the room as the air seal was broken.

Inside lay my laptop, tripod camera, and other various objects.

I grabbed Tiv's laptop, still next to his skeleton, and connected it to mine, hoping to God this would work.

Sucess! The satellite uplink was working, but then I had the troublesome firewall and username/pass problem.

Seeing as there couldn't be anyone left to trace me, I bypassed the bouncing step, and I went straight to the password crack. Of course, the username was 'admin'.

In minutes the firewall was down, my technology from the factory much more advanced.

The password was much more tricky, as it wasn't as obvious as 'password', or 'god', or the date of the CEO's birthday.

The password cracker went into effect, and in the meantime, I looked through Tiv's computer.

Mostly general stuff, word docs, games, etc.

I had the idea to check the date, but of course, it had stopped at 2020, so this was useless. The sun had finally rose, its scarlet rays illuminating the room, but it revealed nothing I already knew. At this time, the…well, I'll call them portands, were out, so I had to wear my gas mask outside. Portands. Disgusting creatures. Almost twice my size, these things could kill you very quickly if you didn't know what you were doing. They had these violet scales, and constantly probing antennae. A very toxic gas was emitted from these orange sacks on their jaws, and without a mask, you got violently ill in 10 minutes. I was running out of filters, but there was a army surplus nearby. Then there were lotmers, these pig-type things, which were mostly harmless. I mainly survived on lotmer meat and peanuts, which I have to admit, not very healthy, but it'll have to do. As I was in this train of thought, the password for the login finally cracked, and my screen blacked out. A set of white letters faded in from the darkness. "Project: Shattered Dunes." Hmm. Interesting. This too faded away, followed by a menu. "Facility Locations" "Background" "Audio files" "Subject Zero" I clicked on Background and some more text filled the screen. It read as follows:

This is the current progress and notes of Project: Shattered Dunes.

In 1967, Borman Industries discovered a set of blueprints, in the foundation of building set for demolition. It was of a prototype for a interface, although the function of it was not quite explained.

1989: The prototype was finished, and Subject Zero tried out said interface. The interface enabled one to enter the confines of technology, control it, even upgrade it to beyond current or future means. The first object it was used on was a basic refrigerator. The results were amazing, to say the least. Researcher Markus Pike made a report of the event:

"Subject Zero's first test was a great success! As he approached the fridge, it seemed as if the device had a mind of his own, his body making forced movements to the object. The gloves had a green unearthly glow about them, and a tube of energy entwined itself around the fridge. The goggles faded to a light blue from the basic red, and Subject Zero was noted saying, [illegible] then switching to, "Doctor, stop this, please!" Of course, we let it continue. The top of the fridge slid open, and a green box arose from within, pulsating with energy. The handle shifted to a blue pad, and the plug to it slithered back, absorbed into the object. The fridge's color switched to a deep black, and looking at it caused a searing pain in the back of my skull. Subject Zero then collapsed, at which Borman security carried him to the medics nearby.

Meanwhile, Dr. Mannone and I entered the room, curious of the device's effects. The fridge had no visible way of opening it anymore, and nothing we did seemed to do anything. That is, until Dr. Mannone rested his hand against the pad, searching for an opening. A stiff, robotic voice came from the device, stating: "Peter Mannone: 5'11, 109 pounds, born April 20th, 1956. The bottom of the fridge slid out, and a sandwich, along with a thermos, sat there. He picked them up, tasting the sandwich, commenting that it was tuna, one of his favorites, and the best he had eaten in a long time. The thermos contained some coffee, and this too, he said was quite delicious. The fridge now could find out a user's personal tastes, and provided what the user was craving at the moment. The fridge is now in storage, and the interface will be subject to further testing

Again, with my wonderful to suck all life out of a room, and to clear the room of people as well.

I paused. Unisec, formally Borman, wasn't that well funded. They only made about 50 mil. a year, which by the current times standards, isn't much. Of course, this was back in 2024.

I went to "Subject Zero" next, as the rest of the notes were heavily encrypted. A frown befell my face. This was encrypted as well, and I didn't have the time. At a lack of options, Facility Locations was next.

Success at last. Three primaries, with 4 testing facilities around the area. As it turns out, I woke up in the main facility, in Rowan. The other two primaries were in Relay and Ellis. However, the testing facilities were harder to find. One in some town known as Tucman, and two somewhere in New York. I was all the way in Maryland, and all the cars were dead. Never mind I didn't know how to drive.

The last facility was in Boston. Even farther away. I shut down the computer, but not before checking the date.

...

2089.

64 years.

I had no idea when the attacks happened. My laptop sneaked its way back into my case, and Tiv's joined it soon after. I just had to gather some supplies, and then I could go.

First thing to collect:

Food.

Clothes.

I entered the passage to the bunker once again, and began gathering things as quickly as possible. Being in the same room as a corpse of a friend isn't very cheerful, you know. Peanuts: In. Some fresh milk? I can't believe it. In. A bag of stale chips: In. Set of fresh clothes: In. This was quite tedious.

I unscrewed the lightbulb from the lamp before I left the room, in case I could use it later. One last stop. I returned to the skeleton of..Moira, as I had guessed, removing her hat. It found a place upon my head. Quite snug.

My gas mask slipped back on. I had one last solemn look around the room, and left, the door creaking omniously.

AN: Well? What'd you guys think?


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

June 21th: Today was quite exciting, indeed.

The door swung open, and the sound of gravel crunching beneath my boots startled me a bit, as it broke the eerie silence I was not yet accustomed to.

The monotonous sound of my respiration echoed throughout my ears.

As I turned the corner to the nearby abandoned Walmart, a rogue portand jumped me, a alien buzzing blocking out all sound. Its front pincers tried to rip through my coat, but it was only effective against flesh.

My gloved hands gripped its wild antennae. At this, it went into a frenzy, scattering around the area, kicking up dust. It's screeching attracted more, and I was overwhelmed in a pile of writhing creatures.

Finally, one of them pinned down my leg, and my leg immediately went numb as I heard the crisp snap of a bone. I closed my eyes, accepting my death, when a bear's roar cut through the swarm, and I could see the pale sky, a large grizzly cutting through the portand's shells like paper. The sweet embrace of darkness enveloped me, and the last thing I saw was the ominous form of the bear.

"Hey". A gruff man's voice cut through the darkness, and I could see a human-shaped blur. "Wake up, boy!" His voice made me jump, and I felt a burst of pain slide up my leg. It was a grizzled old man, wrinkled with age. I rose to a slump, leaning against the nearby wall. A crackling fire sat in the center of the camp. "Wh-Wh-, Who ar' you?" I slurred.

Gramps chuckled."What, ya don't recognize me, Fial?" He rose to his feet, and I studied him more closely. He had some makeshift cyborg attachments, and I could see a set of hover boots, along with a scythe sheathed on his back. A set of pulse emitters were shackled around his wrists.

I still couldn't ID him. "How do you know my name, old man?" I asked.

"It's me." He muttered."Alex."

My head swung in his direction, my look of shock quite apparent."No. That's impossible."

"You'd think so, wouldn't you? However..." He gestured to the familiar hat. A faint stitching said "ALEX".

I became aware of some rough, deep breathing next to me. I nearly fainted as I scrambled away. The fucking bear was next to me.

..Alex grinned. "No need to worry. Old Tiberius won't hurt ya." His face returned to the stern, authorative one. "Now, you need some more rest. I just wanted to tell you who I was."

I drifted off into sleep once more.

This did not last long, as morning came three hours later.

My leg felt much better, and the familiar feeling of hunger returned. Alex sat close to the fire, its flames flickering feebly. He swallowed gray lumps from a bowl.

"Ah, you're awake." He pushed the bowl towards me. "I suppose you're hungry." I nodded eagerly, digging into the remains of the food. I recognized the bland taste of lotmer, and grimaced slightly.

"Tiberius went hunting, brought back some of these bugs." I blindly kept eating. "They're called lotmers, not "bugs"." Alex raised a eyebrow. "Your habit of stupid names, I assume."

I paused, wondering where my gas mask was. It was day, and I should have died. I panicked, the bowl flying out of my hands, clattering to the ground. "Oh, right. Here's your stuff." A heavy pack landed next to me. I searched through it, various items drifting out. At last my mask was found, and it returned once more. My shallow breath emitted from the vents.

"What's wrong? You can't breathe?" "Those things that attacked me, those portands, they can kill you, the air..." "Hmm? I've been out here for years, nothing's wrong with me."

I replied sarcastically, "No, I guess those cyborg parts have nothing to do with it, you're just lucky."

"Alright, alright, calm down, boyo." He had that obnoxious grin again."I guess my modifications purify me of poison. So, where ya headed?"

"Off to the old Unisec facility in Relay."

"Why?" He inquired.

A long sigh came from me, and I began the long explanation of Subject Zero, the interface, and ended with the information of our friends' demise.

As expected, the always fun Alex shed not a tear. "I see." He checked a map. "Well, Relay is only 14 miles from here, so let us move. He whistled, and Tiberius rose with a weak roar. I extinguished the fire, and tried to get to my feet, but immediately fell flat on my face. "Right…the leg."

Tiberius came over as he gestured. Alex lifted me onto the bear's back. "Don't. Grab. His. Ears." Alex warned. My hands came into two firm grips on the bear's nestled fur. I nodded weakly.

"Okay, let's go." The rusted boots he wore flicked a pale blue, and then burst into two navy jets. Alex lead the way across the wasteland, Tiberius dashing aside him.

"Are you looking for anything in particular, Fial?" Alex asked.

"No, I'm just trying to figure out what happened. Maybe it has something to do with the bombing. I want to do something fun before I die, nothing else to do, really." I yelled back.

We went past a abandoned train station, and I knew we were near, as Relay used to be a "Relay" station. A gargantuan silver building came into view, the familiar star-shaped Unisec logo adorning the front.

Alex clattered to a stop in front of the main doors, and Tiberius stopped quite suddenly as well, bucking me off into the concrete wall.

Alex just stood there and laughed.

"Yeah, realllly funny, Alex." I got to my feet, using the wall as support. Alex looked at me.

"We're going to have to do something about that leg of yours.." He said, staring into the sky in thought.

We stood here for 10 minutes, him pacing back and forth, until he ran over to a gas station, and I could hear the strain of steel behind me. He soon returned with what looked like rudimentary crutches.

I edged between them, and it seemed as if it could work well enough. We entered the lobby, Tiberius resting outside. It was quite elegant for its age, marble columns, sleek black floors, things like that.

The front desk was coated with dust, and I swiped a top level ID card from the front desk, although Alex needed to smash the safe open.

The elevators, surprisingly, worked. The flicking light illuminated the small boxes A card scanner lay right next to the fire alarm, and I swiped it. The third elevator slid open with a ding, and we entered. It seemed older, as when I hit the blank button, the clanking of gears could be heard. We descended in silence, no muzak, nothing.

As we neared the basement, all light in the elevator was extinguished, and we stopped. The sleek doors opened, nothing but darkness within.

Alex and I stared at one another, confused. Then the small buzzing of lights. One by one they turned on, slowly revealing the whole room.

It was a lab, it looked like, but trashed. Vials and beakers of all kinds sat shattered, and I noticed, and this scared me most of all, blood near the back room. All over the walls. "I am death. I am life. I am weakness. I am power. Nothing shall stop us." I read aloud.

Some computer terminals were near the entrance, and I read the files.

"Subject Zero is making great progress. This time he managed to upgrade most of our terminals, and now they record data on their own, so this saves much time. However, he still is prone to blackouts after he uses the interface, or Jackal, as we now refer to it. –June 18th, 2001"

"Generators this time, they now produce energy ten times as much. It seems they run on perpetual motion, but all attempts to examine its inner workings have failed, the tools shattering. –November 2nd- 2004."

"The Subject is advancing in power much faster now, blackouts only 2% of the time. Also, it is amazing that even 40 years later, the Subject retains the appearance he did in the 60s. –April 9th-2007"

"We have received no word from the Ellis Island facility after Zero was sent there three months ago. I wonder if the weapons testing is a success. –March 19th-[corrupted data].

I noticed that a audio file wasn't encrypted.

"January 28th, 2015, Dr. Miranda Well, Research facility Alpha, Relay, Test #37.

Zero, how are you feeling today?

A soft male voice stuttered: "I'm fine doctor, but I've been having these drea-"

"That's not important, Frank."

"But Doc-"

"Let us begin the test."

He sighs, "Fine, doctor."

"Now, please, use Jackal on this -" There was heavy static.

"But Doctor, I can-" Zero protested.

"Do it." She said.

"Fine, doctor". Zero said.

A high pitched buzzing noise broke erupted from the speakers, and I felt like I was about to pass out.

I could hear clanking, with screams just barely audible, and I was sure it was the Doctor. However, that didn't tell me what exactly happened.

"RESTRAIN HIM, NOW." A gruff voice said, and I could hear metal squealing.

The tape cut out there.

I called Alex over, and started the tape again.

He stroked his beard thoughtfully, his coal eyes hiding his innermost thoughts. "I see, so this Zero is pretty dangerous, eh?" He sat down on the nearby table, creaking under his weight. A grin lit up his face. "Let's go fight us some psychopaths."

"….". Kinda in shock here. He wants us to go around a damn wasteland, looking for a damn ghost. "You mad, fool?"

He shook his head. "Nope".

"Still, not the issue, here's the issue, you dumbass: I'm injured, and we don't even know if he's still alive." He just smirked and sat there.

I made my way to the back room , all the other terminals wrecked beyond repair. The blood was old, but the sight of it still made me uneasy, and I called Alex over, just in case. Attempting to nudge the door open failed spectacularly, as the thing fell right off its hinges.

A fine layer of dust flew up, and I sneezed, the fresh sunlight rolling onto me. In the corner lay a tattered lab coat, the name "M. Well" on the pocket, and it happened to be right were the blood stains were centered. I bent down, wincing, and picked it up, a folder beneath.

Again, in blood, I'm sure of it, were the words, "Code Violet Alpha" scrawled by an unsteady hand. Not too far from the folder was a small white sphere, rather beat up, and, what a surprise, covered in blood. _"Oh joy." _I thought as Alex brought it over. Very smooth surface, it didn't bounce, and I could hear a slight ring when I shook it. Rather useless, if you ask me, and I threw it into a corner.

We walked back to the elevators, which had returned to the lobby, and we called it down again. "So, I suspect you're rather interested in what happened when you disappeared." Alex asked.

"Yep." I mumbled in reply.

"Well, after you left, it wasn't really the same. It certainly wasn't as active without you. You and your furry porn."

I glared at him. "Hey, it wasn't porn. It was art." I told him curtly.

"Yeah, sure." He ruffled my hair. "Anyway, Unisec began getting into most aspects of life, be it medical, education, scientific, or otherwise. It improved people's lives quite a bit. I suppose we have Zero to thank for that. That is, until 2067. I was, what, 60? This old man can't remember as much anymore."

" It was chaos. Nuclear war. I was lucky, meeting with one of my friends in an old bunker, where he had set up a camp to prepare for the inevitable apocalypse, and I thought he was crazy. I was wrong."

"What happened to him?" I asked

"Well, I think he died. He had went up for more water, and the first time we had left the bunker. I assume he was either killed by the monsters, or radiation poisoning got to him eventually."

I was kind of amazed. Who knew Alex was capable of meaningful sentences, and not just kidding around? At last it arrived, and we stepped inside the old thing, the doors closing behind us.

The white sphere back in the lab wobbled, and split in two. Inside curled up, lay a small robotic figure. It uncurled, and let out a screech, the sound too far underground for us to hear. It clattered over to the folder, and saw the words written there. Instantly, it began to change. Its clawed hands snapped together into thin points, and legs slid up, small antigravity boosters replacing that. Its head stayed the same, still a small angry square, but the eyes shifted from red to violet. Of course, the only reason I know this, is because I left my cam down there. And we had to go back down to the basement to get it back, since I'm such a fool.

When we finally made it to the top, and I discovered my cam was gone, Alex looked ready to scream at me, but instead hit the down arrow again. "Moron", I heard him mumble under his breath.

At the bottom once more, we encountered the sphere, now in transformed…robot mode.

"WHAT THE FUCK?" Well put, Alex.

It let out a screech, and catapulted itself at my face. Alex shot a pulse at it, slamming the thing into the wall, one of the old wooden supports shaking. It curled up into a weird ball, and hovered towards us. A small red light began blinking on it, however, and it stopped its advance. It promptly hovered up the elevator shaft.

"Seriously, Fial, what the fuck was that?" Alex asked me as I grabbed my shit and got into the elevator.

"I don't know, we gotta get outta here, and catch it." I responded hastily.

"What am I doing?" Alex face palmed. He grabbed me by the shirt collar, and just smashed through the roof, his boots lifting us much faster than that thing. However, when we had reached the top, the robot was gone, Tiberius unconscious.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

June 22nd: We're heading back to Rowan, not too far from here. Before we left, Alex found some suitable crutches in a clinic, and in the Unisec Hospital, we found some medical supplies. Very different from my time.

It's just this gel. Apparently, it heals injuries. The public was never told how; it never had any side effects. Well, except for overuse. It's addictive. It did lessen the pain in my leg, but I still need crutches.

We traveled pretty far, but Tiberius had been knocked out by Mr. Robotic Terror, and needed to rest. Camp was made at an old building, last time it was used for a flea market. It was a gold mine, so to speak. Alex found a repair kit for his parts, which were rather rusty, didn't work all the time. I managed to patch up my leather armor with leather, scavenged from almost everything. It was a shame, destroying all this nice stuff, but who was going to use it?

"Alex, over here. I need you to cut up this boot into square pieces." I called.

"On it" he mumbled, his left hand retracting into his wrist, and a small spout replaced it. "Stand back." I shielded my eyes as a thin beam, sparking, sliced through the leather boots. In a few minutes, 5 even squares rested there. "Thanks." He nodded, and returned to the fire, surrounded by rubble.

The kitchen knives didn't make a mark, but with a little searching in the north market, I found weapons. Lots of them. Swords, various knives, a couple of batons, but no guns. Shame. I was low on ammo. I grabbed a couple, and one, not sure what kind of knife, but designed for combat, with its serrated edge, did the trick.

I set to work. Two small slits were in each square, parallel to another. I found plenty of belts, and linked the squares together. This had to be done multiple times, until I called Alex over again, and welded them onto the existing plate system. It was much heavier this time around, but at least I would have protection. The weakened plates shone, oiled up nicely. While I was at it, I got some gas mask filters.

It was late, and I rested.

June 23rd: We set off for Rowan and with Tiberius healed up, we got there today. Before we left the market, Alex scavenged some healing gel, and I could walk. Well, limp, but at least I didn't need the crutches. We had plenty of supplies. Weapons, medical supplies, clothes, and the like. It was near the start of the evening when we arrived.

It towered ominously above us, but it almost felt like home. I led Alex through a hole in the fence, and we walked up to the steel door. A keypad sat there. I searched my mind for a bit, and punched in 000423, at which it slid open. "I have most of the codes memorized. Any too…complicated, I managed to change from the security terminal." I remarked as we hobbled inside.

Tiberius lumbered in behind us. Alex looked around the bare room, rather bored. "Well, welcome to Twilight Sorial Capus, my base, if you want to call it that." I slumped down into a chair, swiveling around to the terminals. The turret system was still active, although it had me in its database of approved users. Alex and Tiberius, on the other hand, were not. The pods on the ceiling opened, and the turrets within locked onto the two. "ALERT! UNAUTHORIZED PERSONNEL. YOU HAVE 30 SECONDS TO EVACUATE THE PREMISES.", exclaimed the A.I. running the place.

"Alex F. and Tiberius are recognized guests of Unisec, accompanying Head of Security, Brian Fialvert. Personnel code ITU4."

"CODE ACCEPTED. WE APOLOGIZE FOR ANY INCONVENIENCE AND PLEASE, HAVE A NICE DAY." It replied as the turrets returned to the pods.

I finished preparations, and the door closed behind them, a steel shutter sliding on top of the door.

Alex looked kind of irritated. "Anyway, let me show you around." I beckoned them along. "This is the security center of the Cryo Labs. The real base is further in." I showed them the offices, and the rooms that I assume employees slept in. Rather bare, with a bathroom and bed. A dresser, with personal items within. The labs were my area. It had multiple sections, with more security farther in. They had a biological test area, psychological, and the like, but the area I couldn't get in was Technology Development. If I managed to get in today, I might find more about Zero.

I synced my laptop with the satellite once more, and since it had a preexisting connection, getting into the files were much easier. However, it seemed that it only told me what I knew. All those locked files from before were Omega clearance, and that was unbreakable. By me, at least. We searched thoroughly, no sign of crazy robot spheres, still empty as I left it. Well, empty except for Jart.

"Welcome back, sir!" he chirped. Alex whipped around, scythe at the ready. He was just about to smash him, until I raised a hand. "This is Jart. S'a general servant. He will bring you whatever you require. And he doubles as a guard for this place. I booted him up myself. He's one of the last things left working around here."

Alex was still wary of him, and Tiberius just didn't like machines. "Oh please, let me show you to your quarters." He wheeled down the hallway, and they followed, though I could hear Alex grumbling.

It was late at night, I was still working. Audio files were almost cracked, too. Until the power went out. "Damn." I muttered, flicking my small flashlight on. "Jart?" I called out, to no avail. I opened up the nearby hatch, and climbed downstairs.

As I made my way to the generators, I could hear something. Not sure what. It was very faint, like scratching. "Rats?" I whispered, my eyes darting all over the room. Anything but rats. Filthy vermin. I sighed. Anything but rats… I turned the corner, and nearly shat myself. A pair of violet eyes were in the darkness, although the owner I could not determine. That is, until I found him right in my face. It was an old man, ragged patches of hair on his scalp. I then realized that those weren't eyes. It was the light from a large headset on the man's head.

He flicked his wrist, and I crashed into a wall. I gasped for air, his hand, clad in black gloves, clenched around my throat. "Boy…" he croaked. "You want to live, you leave this stuff alone. Zero doesn't like being bothered." Looking back, I could see a hint of a smile. "But, at least, thanks to you, Gor came back." I heard clinking, and the robot…thing from earlier was perched on his shoulder. "Good Gor!" he crooned to it, patting it on the head. It…Gor….screeched happily. The headset crackled, and I blacked out, the smell of burning flesh the last thing I remembered.


End file.
